Are values for the original Canon F1 plummeting?

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Vickko

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Are values for the original Canon F1 plummeting?

I took a look at their *bay prices and boy, they are low.

I have a nice Canon F1, with the 55mm f1.2 FD SSC Ashperical and 85mm f1.2 FD lenses.

The 55mm is reputed to have been the best 55mm made ever, surpassing anything Leica has made.

But I've been thinking of selling them, well, until I saw the recent market values for the F-1 body.

What are others seeing? Still fond of their F1's?

...Vick
 
Original F 1 Canons are tough as nails but weigh a ton around your neck.
I prefer an Oly OM 1 around my neck if I want to lug around a classic SLR around all day long.
 
It seems to be sad but true that almost all film cameras are dropping in value, great if you are buying but it must be heartbreaking if you need to sell :-(
They are still great cameras it's just that the world has mostly moved off in another direction.
The F1 was the camera I lusted after when i was a young lad with an Ftb and a pocket full of Tri-X
 
I wear glasses and can see the entire F-1 view screen at once, easily.

I do not need to touch the black metal eyepiece ring to see the whole screen, either. You can still locate the rubber eyepiece cover which will fully protect your glasses, or less preferably in my view, an eye cup (makes the camera back harder to close.)

If the black metal eyepiece ring has gone missing you probably need a replacement if you are a glasses wearer, or the silver eyepiece mount will maul your specs.
 
They're great cameras, and the prices have definitely fallen. Not so sure about the FD optics being best ever though. I have a friend that years ago had a Leica R lens mount mated to his F1 so he could shoot Leica R glass w/ it. Never heard of anyone modifying a Leica so it could use Canon glass.

Digital has been wonderful for film camera prices. I never dreamed I'd be able to shoot a Rolleiflex, a Hasselblad and a Leica. They're giving this stuff away at today's prices.
 
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Yeah, I've got 3 F-1N bodies I should've sold a couple years ago. 🙁

However, I made the mistake of selling most of my FD lenses before the m4/3 adapters came out. Sold my 24/1.4L, 85/1.2L, 135/2, 50/1.4 really cheap. I still have a 28/2, 35/2, 50/1.4 SSC and 50/1.2L. I guess I'll keep them for possible m4/3 duty one day.

Ari
 
bgb said:
The F1 was the camera I lusted after when i was a young lad
Click to expand...

Same here.

Whilst they are considered pretty much worthless now, they can still be fun to use. I love the build quality on this fella. It's a pity my Ni-Cd battery is now damaged and I can't use my motor winder.

Cheers,
 
A bit off topic, but I remember selling a Nikon F4 to cover the whole cost of a Leica M6 back in the 90s. Now, the F4 is 1/4 to 1/5 of the price of the M6 in the used market. Outside of Leicas, there are not many film cameras (users, not collectables) selling at great levels.
 
Prices for manual focus film cameras (with the exception of a handful of collectibles) have dropped substantially.
But it is what it is, and there is no sense in crying over spilt milk, and moaning about what you would have gotten if you had only sold that_________ ten years ago.
My feeling is that it is best to suck it up, and take what you can get for the stuff, and then put that money towards something you'll actually use, as opposed to cutting off your nose to spite your face and hang onto the gear because you're "insulted" by how little you're offered for it.
I recently sold a number of pieces that I was never going to use anyway to KEH for what I suppose was 25 or 30% of its value. But the money I received will buy a lens that I do want, so I consider that I came out ahead.
It was certainly better than having the stuff sitting in a box not being used, and probably never being used again.
 
Steve M. said:
They're great cameras, and the prices have definitely fallen. Not so sure about the FD optics being best ever though. I have a friend that years ago had a Leica R lens mount mated to his F1 so he could shoot Leica R glass w/ it. Never heard of anyone modifying a Leica so it could use Canon glass.
Click to expand...

The Canon FD and FL cameras have the narrowest register of any 35mm SLR. Therefore it is very easy to put any lens from other SLR mounts on it without an IQ reducing optical adapter (exacta, nikon, m42, Leica slr,...). To put a canon lens on another camera such as a Nikon or Leica SLR an IQ reducing optical adapter is required. Canon made such an adapter to put FD lenses on EOS. It is a very good adapter. It is very rare and costs over $1000.
 
It is a shame about the fall of Canon SLR prices. I spent many years building my system. I have 3 F1N AEs, 2 T90s, 1 T70, 1 F1n, and 2 FTBs.
I've slowly reduced my lens count to about 20. The include: 17/4, 24/2, 28/2, 35/2 concave (bleached crystal clear), vanilla 35/2, 50/1.2, 50/1.4, 55/1.2 ASPHerical (reputed to be one of the best 35mm lenses ever made), plain vanilla 55/1.2, 85/1.8, 85/1.2L, 100/2.8, 135/2, 135/2.5, 200/2.8, 300/4, 300/5.6 (rare very early one better than 300/4), 400/4.5, and a vivitar 19/3.8 (I also use that on my RFs). I also have some zooms: 20-35L, 28-85, 35-105, 100-300L, and the cult classic vivitar 35-85/constant 2.8. My macro stuff includes the auto bellows, nikon pb4 T&S bellows adapted to Canon, 50/3.5 macro, 100/4 macro, the incredible vivitar 90-180 flat field macro, vivitar 90 macro with matching optical doubler, several 3rd party 100 macros, and several ext tubes.

Now you see why I feel like crying. 🙁
 
I hope their prices are plummeting - I'd like to get an F1 to go with my FTbN. I need a nice Canon FD 28 & 100 too but that's a different game 🙂

William
 
This is not old news or did I take a trip to another universe over the last 10 years. This systems value has been sliding since Canon orphaned that mount. As mentioned m4/3 has brought some attention back to the lenses. Sony NEX will do a bit mire maybe. The bodies like most film bodies are bottoming out. I'm looking at 3 Contax RX bodies with a combined value just over $600. I paid more new for each one (accept for one used one 3years ago). At least Contax lenses are holding value for EOS shooters. Enjoy the bargains out there. Many now shoot film bodies they could never afford or justify previously. 🙂
 
Curious...

Curious...

...where did you hear, read, or otherwise learn that the Canon 55mm FD lens is superior to Leica? In my experience those lenses were not even close to the Summicrons or Summiluxes of their day.
 
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